Fair celebrates 'Orchid Day'

DEL MAR - Maybe if he hadn't bought that one encyclia orchid
with its tiny lovely flowers some 30 years ago, El Cajon resident
Tom Biggart wouldn't have become an addict.

He wouldn't have spent $1,000 on propane fuel last winter to
keep his orchids warm. He wouldn't have taken up pottery-making so
he could create containers for his floral treasures, and ended up
owning five pottery kilns.

But if he hadn't become an addict, he wouldn't have been
standing on the San Diego County Fair's flower show stage Monday
morning offering advice on what was billed as "Orchid Day."

"Don't," was essentially Biggart's first word of wisdom as he
began his talk, titled "10 Orchids to Grow Outside in San
Diego."

"When you get into orchids, there's always one more that you
have to have," the San Diego Orchid Society member said. "I'm
really trying not to buy any more plants."

Just before Biggart's talk, fellow enthusiast John Kidwell, a
member of the Palomar Orchid Society, had urged the two dozen
people in the audience to join their local orchid groups to obtain
additional advice.

That's a bad decision, Biggart told them.

"You don't ever want to go to an orchid meeting because
everybody brings their plants in blooming condition," he said.

The temptation is overwhelming, he added. After he joined his
local society, he found fellow members gave him plants every time
they divided their orchids.

"Then, you start a business to sell them -- you get into all
this stuff that I'm trying to get out of," he said.

But Monday, he didn't look like he was trying too hard.

Thanks to his huge propane bill, he's now focusing on orchids
that can grow outside with minimal care in San Diego's temperate
climate, he said. His top 10 outdoor orchid list includes:

1.) Reed-stem epidendrums, or as Biggart wrote on his list,
"Wonderful plants that everyone needs in their garden -- they are
in constant flower -- Incredible!"

2.) Cymbidiums, and to quote Biggart, "This is another no-fail
plant for us. The hardest thing about them is that they grow fast
and are really hard to divide."

3.) Australian dendrobiums "bloom year after year from the same
growth and can really put on a show."

4.) Laelia anceps and its hybrids, a Mexican species that's very
cold tolerant.

5.) Cool-growing dendrobiums from India are "great plants, but a
little harder to grow," according to Biggart.